Quotes from Nancy Farmer

Patience and love can do anything.

My view of civilization is that there have always been small pockets of good, decent, kind people surrounded by corrupt and evil power structures. It's always a battle to stay on the side of good.

I am now writing a book called 'Far Enough,' very loosely based on my childhood. This is difficult because it forces me to remember people I loved who are gone.

The high point of your life was when you knocked me down

I never hand in a book until it's completed. Richard Jackson then reads it and asks me to clarify murky points. We work very well together. He knows how hard to push, and I know how hard to push back. He's the only person who can criticize my work without me throwing a hissy fit.

Music has a tremendous effect on me. When it's playing, I can't think or do anything other than listen. But I can write to it.

I'd guess that you have some purpose to fulfill and that is why you were saved. But don't get a swelled head over it. A cabbage has a purpose when someone needs to make soup.

When u are small, u can choose which way to grow. If you are kind and decent, you grow into a kind and decent man. And if you are like El Patron . . . Just think about it." – Tam Lin

Heroes, well, they don't live so long. But they're muy suave, and we all admire them.

She would drink until the trembling stopped. Then she would wilt over the piano like one of Celia's spinaches when Tam Lin forgot to water the garden.

Tom is a filthy little pustule. If you quote me, I'll deny it!

Life and death are in constant battle. There is no way in this world for happiness to exist alone...

Knowledge is a house that must be built from the ground up. We know how to make the roof. The information is useless if we don't understand the foundations on which it is to be placed.

Gods, if they're neglected, tend to fall asleep, but they never really go away.

It isn't healthy to care for someone who can never love you back.

Death must be fought with life, and that means courage and that means joy

I decided to forgive you after reading The Little Flowers of Saint Francis," María began. "You remember the wolf I talked about? Well, he was a monster who terrorized everybody until Saint Francis gave him a talking-to. He was sweet as a lamb and never ate anything but vegetables after that." "I didn't know wolves could digest vegetables," said Matt, who had studied biology. "That's not the point.

Matt discovered that no matter how terrified he'd been at first, it wasn't possible to stay terrified. It was as though his brain said, Okay. That's enough. Let's find something else to do.

When you're small, you can choose which way to grow. If you're kind and decent, you grow into a kind and decent man. The idea that if you were mean, you might stay mean forever had never occurred to him.

She took to reading with a fervor so extreme, Baba Joseph had to take the books from her hands by force. 'Your eyes are not tractors. They are not meant to pull heavy loads,' he said sternly.

For purely selfish reasons, the old man had preserved what the rest of the world had destroyed.

He didn't want anything new in his life, no matter how beautiful.

Tendai remembered his last birthday. It seemed one shouldn't make wishes idly. Who knew which spirits were listening. He considered a moment and then thought, I wish for courage. Because with courage, you weren't afraid to look at the truth. You weren't afraid to ask questions or do the right thing.

Scar tissue had formed a knot on the bottom of his foot. He inspected the writing frequently—PROPERTY OF THE ALACRÁN ESTATE—but the scar had sliced through the tiny lettering. It was more difficult to make out the words.